


Boy, You Don't Know What You Do To Me

by stupidHumans (orphan_account)



Category: Homestuck
Genre: Hidden angst, Highschoolstuck, Holyshitthiswasfuntowrite, Karkat/Reader - Freeform, Multi, geek
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2012-04-15
Updated: 2012-10-23
Packaged: 2017-11-03 17:42:16
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 4
Words: 3,047
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/384133
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/orphan_account/pseuds/stupidHumans
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>How do you tell someone you're impossibly in love with them when they barely know you?</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> HOT DAMN THIS IS FUN TO WRITE.

Oh shit, here he comes. You watch an angry boy enter the cafeteria. An angry troll, to be exact.

…Alright. You’ll explain this.

You have a normal life for a geeky teenager. Anime, Adventure Time, Hot Topic and the like. You also read a flash-animated webcomic called Homestuck. It’s become an obsession lately; that’s all you doodle in your math notebook and it’s the only thing you rant about anymore. You’ve become used to the puzzled stares and gaping mouths as you ramble on about quadrants and warning of the stairs when in proximity of a few steps. You’re used to being passive-aggressively shunned for expressing your oddities, and it’s basically in Homestuck role-playing with other addicted internet people and fan fiction that you find solace.

Until of course, one of the characters start going to your school. 

You aren’t too sure of how the hell this happened, some paradox shit or something, but there’s no mistaking the very real creases in the boy’s clothing, the hood pulled over his head not only hiding unruly dark hair but small, nubby protrudences that he manages to hide, and the glistening, cat-like eyes he has that could burn a hole through hardened cement.

He always sits alone, you observe. You also observed how no one has any clue that his melanin pigmentation isn’t quite human. That’s a good summarization of what you’ve been doing since he arrived at your school. Observing. Watching. Waiting.

You suppose now is a good time as ever.

You throw your half-eaten, clearly half-assedly made food into a nearby trashcan and make your way to the lone boy. He seems to not be too interested in his food, so you take the initiative and sit down across from him. You think of so many suave lines to jab at the troll, to earn insta-respect from the grumpy being. Things like:

‘Not as good as Alternian, huh?’

‘I think it’s safe to say sopor is probably better than that gruel.’

Or even:

‘Karkat?’

None of these make it out of your mouth as the troll’s head snaps up to glare into your eyes. Is… is that a bit of red in the pupils?

Karkat’s growing up.

You lose all competence as you gaze directly into the ruddy irises of his eyes.

“I, uh… umm, er,” is really all you manage. You scold yourself internally, throwing around phrases like Stupid stupid dumb.

“What the fuck do you want?” A raspy, throaty, still somewhat maturing voice escapes his lips. It’s the sweetest sound you’ve ever heard, like smooth honey washing over your   
hearing senses that still has that sense of a manly voice with the somewhat rougher edges and a deeper octave than yours.

Holy mother of Jegus. 

The world hates you. It knows you can’t possibly retaliate after such a voice. You’d dreamt of meeting him, fantasized over how things would go down, and are disappointed to find that you’ve blundered this whole acquaintance. Well, you think you have.

“I, umm, nothing! Just thought you seemed a bit isolated, not that I blame you. Eighty-five percent of the population here is composed of brain-dead nitwits.” You stumble over a few words. The troll shrugs and continues eating.

“You do have a point with the latter statement, I guess,” He mumbles, and the glee in your heart just took acid, making everything beautiful and trippy.

He starts speaking again. “Am I supposed to enjoy this food?”

“Honestly, I never want to see another half pint of milk again. Or soggy tater-tot, for that matter.” Your smugness almost overrides that surreal sensation of conversing with your favorite person in the world. Always the conversational expert. Strider would be proud. 

Karkat scoffs and you think you can almost see a curve forming at the left end of his mouth.

“… Still don’t know your name,” He mumbles, staring at the pool of condensation around the base of his milk carton.

You backtrack. Karkat wants to know you. Goddamn it if you aren’t the luckiest fangirl in the world.

You reply with your name and he does this little breathy laugh that makes your heart flutter.

“I guess I’ve heard worse.”

“Well then, what’s yours?” You say. Of course, you already know his name, but it’s slipups like showing that you already know it that put you in the stalker-zone.

He seems to mull over giving you his name, something you’re trying really hard not to giggle at. He’s just so fucking cute, you need insulin.

“Don’t fucking laugh at it, I realize it’s probably the stupidest name in the whole world, my mom was a fucking hippie okay-“ 

You cut him off so your insides don’t burst out of your mouth from shaky laughter.

“Just tell me your name, I won’t judge,” You manage.

“Fine. Karkat Vantas.” You think you see a bit of red heat creep onto his face.

Okay, you realize that your pronunciation of his name was way off. The way he said it was quite weird to be honest, KAR-kat Vun-TAHS. To be honest, it sounds a bit German or   
Russian. There, you think, that eradicates any assumption that a human-esque Karkat would be a ginger. Sure, he’s a naturally angry person, but you like to think that the fandom takes that a bit too far for comfort.

You realize that your daydreaming eyes had found their way to the troll’s.

“I’m not that fucking beautiful, you creep,” he retorts. You blush and throw a comeback at him.

“Please, Vantas, you’re that one star that everyone looks at up in the sky at night and goes ‘Wow, that’s a sight I could swoon over forever.’ You are that star. It’s you.” You joke, trying so fucking hard not to laugh.

You notice that people are starting to stare, and also notice that Karkat notices it as well. He’s internally fidgeting with the spotlight thrust upon him, so you keep the conversation going.

“Out with it.” You deadpan. Dave, goddamn it wouldn’t you be proud.

He tries to avert looking into your eyes until he finally spits out the sentence like it has been eating away at his gums and vocal cords.

“Why are you talking to me?” You think he’s still averting the real truth, but you don’t push too much. 

“Why not?” Well played.

“Well, I’m virtually the scum clinging to the bottom of this huge fucking ship that is high school and you’re that dumb fucking tourist who wants ‘adventure’ or some shit so you go delving into the sea of losers and morons and find me hanging on for dear life against the current and the waves.” Karkat rants.

You loved how irresistible the boy was in Homestuck with his rambling, but sweet Jegus your heart can hardly take it in person. 

“Sometimes, if you go deep enough below the surface, you find the most beautifully unique things.”

Karkat laughs, and you think he doesn’t understand (or at least, he doesn’t want to) how many layers were in that sentence. 

You notice people starting to leave, as this lunch period is over.

“What class do you have next?” You ask.

“Biology.” He replies. 

“Cool, I have Algebra 2, so we won’t be too far apart from each other.”

“Fucking joy.”

As you exit to your next class, your heart is so swollen and whole you can hardly take it.


	2. Chapter 2

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> More of this.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I feel like everything's going too fast .-.
> 
> A betareader would be lovely!

Oh, how he made you wonder.

Did he still hate his blood color? Does he still throw up those translucent, papery walls when someone came too close? Is his blood any brighter than yours? Or is it exactly the same?

Did he really hate John? How did the quadrants really work? You wonder if he enjoys humanity’s romantic movies like he does the troll ones.

Does he miss home?

Sure, you pretty certain the canons that had long been a part of the fandom were mostly correct. You just wanted to know it from the source.  
You keep reminding yourself how lucky you actually are. He’s here, Karkat’s within 200 feet of you and every time the thought runs across your mind you giggle and your cheeks flush.

Soon you realize that class has drawn to a close. You scoop up your books and run out of the door to your locker. Over the clanking and metalwork of your lock and squeaky door hinges, you don’t notice the troll at the end of the hall, his hand pressed gently against the wall as he peers through the crowd to watch you.

You have a free period before your last class of the day, so you go into the library to catch up on some homework. Though it’s to no avail since you can hardly concentrate, it does help you think things through a bit.

1- Karkat’s here.  
2- He’s real.  
3- You want him, though you aren’t sure just how far that feeling goes.  
4- There’s a chance that he’s interested.  
5- You were always bad at making lists.

Okay, as shitty as the list was, it still helped you understand more of what happened earlier. Even though you only have lunch with Karkat, this friendship could work. You realize that the best thing you can do is roll with it for the time being. 

As weird as it sounds, Karkat’s almost your savior from this monotonous school.

 

Karkat walked down the hall to leave after serving detention. Again. He didn’t see the point of slope-intercept and when he told that to the teacher, she made him stay afterschool.   
A few jocks were also put into detention, and treated Karkat as their little play thing. Sneers and jokes, Karkat shut them out. One didn’t take it too kindly, and Karkat could feel the boy’s eyes trained on the back of his head.

“Hey, Karkitty, you forgot something,” The muscular bloke of a boy yelled. Karkat shied his face away and turned his back toward the now flailing pencil. 

“Oh, quit being such a pussy, Karkitty, I wanna make friends with you,” The other boy crooned. The smaller boy growled and threw his best “I’m-about-to-fucking-cull-you-with-my-bare-hands” look. The jock just scoffed and walked closer, pinning Karkat against the wall.

“Fuck you,” Karkat panted.

“That’s gross Karkitty, I’m straight,” he slammed his hand against the wall none too far away from Karkat’s head. “You fucking queer.” He snarled.

Of course, Karkat had no idea what the insults meant, only that they were insults directed at him and so, he retaliated.

The spit landed square on the bridge of the larger male’s nose. He backed off, trying to rub it away in disgust. Taking the opening, Karkat sped down the hall, trying to ignore the promises of a rematch.

 

Your mind wanders as you walk home from school, as your house is only a few blocks away. Naturally, it wanders to Karkat. You see a bright red leaf fall from a tree, you think of his blood color. You scuff your shoe to hide the leaf behind a brown, dull leaf as if he’s still hiding his true blood. You hear some street kids cursing and playfully teasing each other, and think of Karkat’s foul language. 

You need him too much.

It’s as if you’ve been bound with metal wires as you lap at the greatness of Homestuck, and now that Karkat’s here, the wires are gone and you’re running and laughing and playing with jubilance.

There used to be so many restraints, and now you’re scared you’re going to lose the freedom, the leniency.

For the warden called by Fate to say “Alright, back in your cell.”

You’ve had your fun.

Back to reality.

Back to boredom.

That’s not something you think you can handle.

Ultimately, you’re scared of losing him.


	3. Chapter 3

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Eeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeek

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm trying to keep this gendersafe in case you're a guy out there swooning over Karkles, but sooner or later I'll need some help keeping it un-assuming.

“’Sup,” you say as you plop your tray onto the table and swing your legs over the bench.

Karkat looks up from his food in surprise, and then remembers the friendship made yesterday. He nods at you in acknowledgement and the bubbly feeling in your stomach doesn’t help your hunger too much.

“Ugh, I can’t stand their pizza.” You comment. Karkat looks up at you in bewilderment.

“Are you shitting me? This stuff’s the fucking best,” He snaps playfully. You can’t help but laugh at him and his adorableness. God, it’s almost too much.

“You like pizza?”

“Fuck yes. Best thing you humans ever fucking came up with is this right here,” He says before refilling his still half full mouth with more of the greasy cheese on cardboard.

“I wonder if you like spaghetti,” You comment absentmindedly.

“What’s pasqetti?” He inquires. You hardly contain your laughter, and then just give up holding it in because that’s the most diabetes-inducing sentence you’ve ever heard. He starts to look offended and snaps “What the fuck is wrong with your oral glands?”

“It’s spa-ghett-i, Karkat.”

“S…pasqetti,” He tries, at least.

“Good, Karkat. Good.”

 

You hardly believe it’s been three months since he arrived.

It seemed like nothing. 

All of it was fun, everything was absolutely beautiful and nothing hurt. You didn’t have to deal with so much boredom anymore. You weren’t completely alone. For the first time in quite a while, you feel almost normal, even if it took one webcomic, one character, two separate universes, and your own will.

You sit down at your regular table that you share with Karkat, yet you didn’t see a gray-skinned boy in sight. Plus, it’s not like you could ask someone; Karkat was pretty much your only friend now, as you were his. 

Maybe he’s just running late at his locker. You desert your food in pursuit of the hallways to find Karkat. At his locker, you see nothing down either way of the hall. You also didn’t hear anything…

… Until a small whimper emitted from the janitor’s closet. You swing the door open and flick the lights on in a flurry, and find a small ball in the corner beside a couple of mops. 

He looks up at you, and then looks away as he gets embarrassed.

“This place is fucking disgusting. I didn’t know human schools had reproduction rooms.” He joked weakly, nodding over towards the bucket full of water. 

You walk over and kneel down to look at him. You count.

One, two, three mottled, purple bruises. Two scrapes the color of licorice. A bloodied, mangled nose. 

You play nurse to him, cleaning out his nose and advising about not tilting his head back, bandaging the scrapes, and brushing your fingers gently over the swollen, glossy lumps on his arm and torso.

“You any better now?” You ask after watching him wince at the mere sweep of your finger over his arm.

“Much better.” He replied shortly. You wanted so badly to ask what happened, but his eyes told you that explaining would just torture him.

“Good.” You kiss the top of his forehead lightly, and for the first time since he started showing up at school, he genuinely smiled.

 

After that, your friendship with Karkat blossomed. After convincing your mother that yes, Karkat’s just a friend mom, nothing to worry about, she let him stay over even though he had to sleep on the couch. It worked. Sure, there were the rumors that you two were dating, and one day at lunch Karkat confronted you about it. He… asked if you two were matesprits.

Matesprits. 

“Nah man, more like moira-ils.” You could hear the end of the sentence crack yourself as soon as you said it.

You watch Karkat’s face go cherry red. “D-do you want to be?” You looked up from your plate and soon enough Karkat’s eyes were pointed down at the floor.

Okay, someone had to be cool here. “I dunno; do you want to be?” as much as you tried to play it off, you couldn’t help the scorching heat building in your chest.

Karkat looked up at you, and in that instant you could read his emotions just by looking at his eyes.

Embarrassment.

Humiliation.

Regret.

Warmth.

Love.

Wow, you didn’t know trolls could get that bright in the face.

“… What if I do?”

Oh my fucking Gog.


	4. Shit Let's Be Santa and Wrap Shit Up Like Plot

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> wooweee shortness

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> urgh i hope you guys enjoy it!

You make your way through the lunchroom, eyeing around you warily. Today is the day. This is it. You’re going to tell him. You’re going to-  
He looks up from the table he’s sitting at and gives a sheepish smile.  
You can’t do this. He probably isn’t real. Oh god he’s staring. You are uncomfortable. Why are you uncomfortable? What is happening here? You sit down with apprehension and try your damndest not to even think.  
“Hey.” He’s gotten so comfortable around you, and you would take pride in that if it weren’t for the single thought racing through your head:  
Karkat fucking wants you and you’re being a total wuss about it.  
“Hi,” You sit down and open your icy milk. He’s still staring but it isn’t creepy, just content and warm like he actually likes looking at you.  
You two eat in silence for a bit, his eyes never leaving you. Finally he says something.  
“We need to talk.”  
You nearly choke on your watery alfredo.  
“Hmm?”  
He sighs, and you feel a lecture/rant coming on.  
“I like you a lot okay, you’re really nice and great and cool and at first I didn’t like you but you grew on me. You’ve been debating this for two fucking weeks now and I think that’s enough. I don’t want to be pushy but I also want my answer.” He leans back a bit and folds his arms, still staring. You want to crawl inside a box and never come out, but he’s right. You’ve held it off for long enough.  
“I like you too. A lot.”  
You look up and all you see is a fucking toothy smile beaming from his face. “Why the fuck didn’t you tell me? It’s not like you had to be afraid of rejection.”  
“I know… I just…” You stammer.  
“It’s fine. So…”  
You scoot closer to him.  
“Matesprits.”  
You try to ignore the breathy laugh emitting from his mouth as he wraps an arm around you and you maybe blush and he maybe carries your tray for you and you maybe are falling in love.


End file.
